Breast Cancer Linked to Water Supply

Guest Author - A. Maria Hester, M.D.

Breast cancer is a leading cause of death among women and the prevalence of this cancer increases with advancing age. One in 7 to 8 American women will one day be faced with this potentially life-shattering diagnosis. We hear a lot about ?mainstream? cancer reduction, but there is other information about cancer that most people do not know. In this health-conscious society, we need to be aware of not-so-well-known information that can have a serious impact on our lives. Our very lives may depend on being open to learning new things and actively seeking out that knowledge.

Case in point, many in the scientific community have long linked chlorine to cancer. Chlorine has been adding to our drinking water for over 100 years. While is it an effective (and cheap) way to disinfect our water, there is evidence that it has the potential to cause serious illness.
?Cancer risk among people drinking chlorinated water is 93% higher than among those whose water does not contain chlorine,? according to the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality.

In the late sixties, Dr. Joseph Price wrote a controversial book entitled, ?Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine? in which he proposed that the chlorine in drinking water was directly linked to heart disease and stroke. He subsequently headed up a study in which he grouped hundreds of chickens into 2 groups: those given water with chlorine and those given water without chlorine. The results were dramatic. The chickens raised with chlorine showed evidence of heart disease at autopsy, while those raised without chlorine showed no such evidence.

The Environmental Protection Agency classifies chlorine as a pesticide, used to kill living organisms. Is it really possible that humans are unwittingly among those killed from this chemical? A research study carried out in Hartford, Connecticut demonstrated that, ?women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines (chlorination byproducts) in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer.

Surprisingly, most of our harmful exposure to chlorine comes by way of inhaling steam thru the lungs and absorbing steam thru the skin when we shower. Warm environments open up the pores in our skin, which accelerates the absorption of chlorine in the water. Just as alarming, the steam we inhale in the shower may contain up to 50 times the amount of chemicals than the water we get from the kitchen faucet. Some even believe that those in and around the bathroom are put at risk from steam when others shower.

The good news is chlorine is easy to filter out of our water supply. I recommend going online and simply searching shower and faucet filters. There are many out there. I recently purchased a vitamin C based shower filter (for less than $50) and I could even tell a difference in my skin after the first use. I also noticed that my shower water no longer smells like a pool full of chlorine and my lungs did not feels as ?funny? as they used to when I inhaled deeply while taking a regular shower.

No need to spend an arm and a leg on drinking water filters either. You can get a filter for the faucet or simply purchase a pitcher to go in your refrigerator (such as Brita). For less than $80 or $90 dollars you can buy a filter for both your kitchen and your bath. It?s more than worth the investment.

Until next time, I?m Doctor Maria wishing you health and happiness.

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